If you want to succeed in any endeavor, whether personal or career-oriented, you must be authentic. Authenticity is the most powerful way that you can add value.
As Michael Molfetta explains, doing so includes expressing the unique gifts and talents that you have. This doesn’t involve boasting about how great you are but rather showing those you are trying to lead that you are genuine.
If you want to find success in leadership, you have to be yourself. There are many vital skills leaders must employ, but being authentic helps leaders hone all those skills.
Molfetta, the legal mind behind Molfetta Law and CEO of Invictus Sports Management, lives and dies by his authentic reputation. Here we evaluate several ways that authenticity has led Molfetta to leadership success throughout his 30-year career.
It establishes values
People are more likely to follow others who have values that closely align with their own. They want to know that the people they follow hold specific values and that they do not compromise those values for anything.
Authenticity helps leaders establish integrity, which is crucial to being successful. When your employees see you have integrity, they will try to emulate you and are more likely to listen to, absorb and act on what you say.
If you don’t live up to the values you say you hold, employees are less likely to believe anything you say. This, in turn, leads to low employee morale and lower output.
It builds relationships
People build relationships with others they believe are unique and authentic people. It’s hard to be friends with someone who isn’t trustworthy, for example.
When leaders are authentic, they help to establish a solid connection with the people they are leading. This results in more open communication, sharing ideas and information, and genuine care for each other.
Employees are more likely to go the extra mile when they work for people who they care about. When you are authentic, your employees will be invested in your success and will do everything in their power to help you reach your goals.
It creates purpose
Employees today want to feel a sense of worth from their job. They merely don’t want to clock in, clock out, and get paid. They want to feel like their work has a greater meaning than just higher revenue and profits for the company.
Leaders who are authentic show employees just how passionate they are about the work the company is doing. They share this passion with others and get them to believe in the company’s overall goals and what it’s doing.
In Michael Molfetta’s experience, passionate leaders are likely to engender passion at all levels beneath them. When other executives and managers feel a sense of purpose through this passion, they’re more likely to be passionate themselves when they’re sharing news of a new direction, new product or service, or new process with their employees in meetings.
In the end, this passion runs downhill in the organization, ultimately resulting in clients who can sense this passion and buy into the company’s authenticity.
About Michael Molfetta
Michael Molfetta is the resolute force behind Molfetta Law, a founding partner of CRM Sports Advisors and the CEO of Invictus Sports Management. As a veteran litigation attorney with over 30 years of experience under his belt, he has been lead counsel in nearly 300 jury trials and a legal correspondent for major news networks. Before starting his legal practice, he was the Deputy District Attorney in Orange County and was ‘1994 Prosecutor of the Year’. Since then, Molfetta has continued to garner acclaim and distinction within the legal field. In 2021, he was named ‘Litigator of the Year’ by The American Institute of Trial Lawyers.
Dennis Relojo-Howell is the founder of Psychreg.
